Improvement in corn-shellers



J. M. HAWLEY.

No.187,850, tttttt ed Feb. 27, 1877.

F W i A UNITED STATES JAMES M. BAWLEY,

PATENT QFFICE.

for ODIN, ILLINOIS.

I IMfROl/EMENT m CORN-SHELLERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 187,850, dated February 27, 1877 application filed December 2', 1876.

To all whom it mdy concern Be it known that I, JAMES M. HAWLEY, of Odin, in the county of Marion and State of Illinois, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Oorn-Shellers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construc tion and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of a side elevation of my corn-sheller, and Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view through line w av. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the same.

This invention relates to hand corn-shellers; and it consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of the parts hereinafter set forth.

In the annexed drawings, A designates the standard or supporting-plate, to which all the other parts of the apparatus are attached. Said standard is provided with a mortise, 00, whereby it is secured to a bench, table, or any fixed article. In the upper part of said standard is a circular perforation or opening, A, which receives a shelling-cylinder, B. Said cylinder is made in one piece with a face-plate, B, that forms a rim or flange, b, around its face, and extends some distance below said cylinder in front. Said cylinder is secured to said standard by means of said flange b, in front, and by an annular band or ring, 0, at the rear. Said band or ring is keyed to said cylinder by means of wedge or key 0, which sets, into corresponding recesses in the outside of said cylinder,

, and the inside of said ring or band, or is otherwise firmly, though detachably, attached. Said band or ring 0 is made in one piece with a crank, O. a

To the face of flanges b is secured, by means of lugs.or attaching-plates d d, a drum, D, which forms an extension of cylinder B, and which is recessed underneath at d, to allow the play of the jaws or gripingarms E E. Said jaws or griping-arms are pivoted, by their lower ends, to face-plate B,

near the bottom thereof, so as to have a certain amount of lateral play, and their expansion is resisted by spiral compression-springs F F, which are arranged outside of said jaws or griping-arms on each side thereof, around a rod, G, which passes through said arms. A retracting-spring between said arms may be substituted, if preferred. Said jaws or griping-arms E E pass up through slot d into the inside of the shelling-cylinder. They are provided with barbs e e, for grasping and shelling the ears of corn as they are successively introduced into the shelling-cylinder. The springs F F cause said jaws to conform to the size and shape of each ear.

The arrangement of said barbs 6 may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of my invention; but I prefer to have one of said griping-arms, E, terminate in a single point, and the other arm, E, terminate in two diverging points, between which sets the single point of arm E. Drum or cylinder D is made in one piece with a crank, H.

To shell the ears of corn, each ear is first introduced into the shelling-cylinder above described, so as to be grasped by said jaws or gripingarms E E. The ear is then held firmly by one hand of the operator, and the shelling-cylinder is turned by operating one or both of the cranks above described until so much of said ear is shelled as has been introduced into said shelling-cylinder. The ear is then withdrawn and introduced from the other side into said cylinder to complete the shelling.

Most of the parts of the above device are preferably, though not necessarily, made of cast metal.

The above-described construction enables the operator to readily separate and clean them.

Most of the devices may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The face-plate B, having the slotted cylinder B formed on, or otherwise rigidly secured thereto, and carrying the grasping-arms In testimony that I claim the above I have E E, substantially as described, and for the hereunto subscribed my name in the prespurpose set forth. ence of two witnesses.

2. The standard A, provided with the orifice A, in combination with the face-plate B, JAMES M. HAWLEY. having the slotted cylinder B formed on, or otherwise rigidly secured thereto, and carry- Witnesses: ing the grasping-arms E E, substantially as N. B. MORRISON, described, and for the purpose set forth. E. M. PBOTHERO. 

